Grade 12 ChemStart Physical Science Kit

By Grade 12, CAPS Physical Sciences comes down to matric practical work, and this kit has everything needed to run it: real lab chemicals, glassware and safety gear, plus a 55-page manual that walks through each experiment step by step.

Chemicals in the kit

200ml acetic acid, 50ml cobalt chloride solution, 10g dextrose, 50ml ethanol, 200ml dilute and 20ml concentrated hydrochloric acid, 10g iron (II) sulphate, 20ml isopropanol, 20ml methanol, 200ml methylated spirit, 20ml methylene blue, 10g oxalic acid, 15ml pentanol, 20ml phenolphthalein, 50ml potassium chromate, 50ml potassium dichromate, 100ml potassium iodate solution, 5g potassium iodide, 10g potassium permanganate, 3g salicylic acid, 10g sodium bicarbonate, 15g sodium hydroxide, 100ml sodium metabisulphite, 5g sodium polyacrylate, 20ml sodium silicate, 12g sodium thiosulphate, 10g starch, 20ml concentrated sulphuric acid, and 5g zinc powder.

Labware, equipment and safety gear

A glass beaker and two plastic beakers, a conical (Erlenmeyer) flask, a glass rod, a 50ml measuring cylinder, three test tubes and one large test tube with a rack and holder, a thermometer, two watch glasses, two Pasteur pipettes, a spatula, a tuning fork, four balloons, a rubber band, a burner with stand, a lighter, safety glasses and gloves.

The manual: your reference guide

The kit comes with a 55-page learner manual that acts as your reference guide. It opens with real lab safety rules and a laboratory apparatus guide before a single experiment starts, then works through esterification, polymers, work energy and power, the Doppler effect, rates of reactions, chemical equilibrium, and acids and bases: seven topic chapters in total, each with the theory, the method, a results table and a worksheet.

Experiments you can run

They can react methanol, ethanol, pentanol and isopropanol with acetic acid, plus salicylic acid with methanol, using sulphuric acid as a catalyst in a reflux set-up, producing esters with distinct fruity smells.

They can make a condensation polymer from sodium silicate, turn milk and vinegar into a biodegradable casein plastic, dissolve a polystyrene cup in acetone to see how solvents affect polymer chains, and test the absorbency of sodium polyacrylate, the same polymer used in nappies.

They can time how much work is done walking versus running up a flight of stairs, using a stopwatch and a bathroom scale.

They can strike and spin a tuning fork on a string to hear the pitch shift as it moves, demonstrating the Doppler effect.

They can compare how fast different reactant pairs respond, test the effect of concentration with an iodine-clock style reaction, compare an open watch glass burn against vapour trapped in a bottle to see surface area at work, run the same reaction hot and cold, use potassium iodide and dishwashing liquid to catalyse a foaming hydrogen peroxide reaction, and time a classic disappearing-cross reaction to measure rate directly.

They can compare evaporation in a covered versus an uncovered beaker, shift the pink-to-blue cobalt chloride equilibrium with concentration and temperature, and shift the yellow-to-orange chromate-dichromate equilibrium with pH.

They can track the temperature change during a neutralisation reaction, watch concentrated sulphuric acid dehydrate sugar to carbon, inflate a balloon with the CO2 from an acid and a metal carbonate, compare a strong acid and a weak acid reacting with zinc, use an indicator to test acidity and alkalinity, and see what caustic soda does to a strand of hair.

A few household items you'll also need

Vinegar and milk for the biodegradable plastic experiment, table salt and an empty polystyrene cup with acetone or nail polish remover for the other polymer experiments, dishwashing liquid for one of the reaction rate experiments, ice and boiling water for temperature comparisons, a flight of stairs with a stopwatch and a bathroom scale for the work and energy experiment, string and sticky tape for the Doppler effect demonstration, and hair collected from a hairbrush plus some caustic soda or drain cleaner for the last acids and bases experiment.

Why it's worth it

Grade 12 is exam year, and this kit is built around exactly the practical topics that show up in the NSC Physical Sciences paper: esterification, polymers, work and energy, the Doppler effect, reaction rates, equilibrium, and acids and bases. Rather than spreading across the whole syllabus, it goes deep on seven topics, each ending in a proper worksheet, so the practical work doubles as exam preparation rather than just something to watch happen.